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UK based Ginetta Cars announced today that they have taken formal orders and deposits for the first three sales of their new for 2018 LMP1 endurance racing car. The cars, purchased by an as yet un-named single customer team, are bound for a proposed two car 2018/19 FIA WEC effort (including both the 2018 and 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours) with the third car intended as a spare. Lawrence Tomlinson, Ginetta Cars Chairman: “This is a big step forward for the programme, and will be g

Today saw the launch of the FIA World Endurance Championship "Global Fan Survey". Fans are invited to take part in the survey and contribute to the shape of the FIA WEC in years to come. “We want to hear from the fans,” said FIA World Endurance Championship CEO, Gérard Neveu. “Echoing the values and attitudes led by Jean Todt, President of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile), and Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), this has alw

BMW Motorsport presented its new top-of-the-range model for the international GT racing scene at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main: the BMW M8 GTE. Before the BMW 8 Series Coupé goes on sale, the race car will compete on the track next season, including in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). It is with this series that BMW Motorsport will also make its return to the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA). Technology meets tradition: BMW Motorspor

We take a look at the new proposals from the FIA WEC for the upcoming season changes from the end of the 2017 season. The organisers have been speaking about making the Le Mans 24 hour race the season closer for some time now, so no surprise that this will be the case going forward – the surprise being that in the 2018/19 season WEC will race 4 times around the clock at Le Sarthe. We have to remind ourselves that this is a transitional period and going forward the 48 hours

Both Porsche 919 Hybrids will start from the front row of the grid in Sunday’s six-hour race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. The championship leading Le Mans winners, Earl Bamber (NZ), Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ) took pole position on a dry track. Grid position two for the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) went to the crew of the reigning world champion Neel Jani (CH), André Lotterer (DE) and Nick Tandy (GB) in the s

Aston Martin Racing are poised to fight for GTE Pro and Am victory, after the team qualified on the front row in each class for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Mexico. The #95 V8 Vantage GTE Pro of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen will begin the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in second, after the pair found themselves battling throughout the session with the #71 Ferrari for qualifying honours. With the pair setting a combined average lap time of 1m39.534 – just 0.1

In a Friday afternoon press conference at the Mexican round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, series boss Gerard Neveu and ACO President Pierre Fillon unveiled the the new schedule, as well as a roadmap for the future, including revised LMP regulations for 2020. Provisional 2018-19 WEC Schedule: 5 & 6 April: The Prologue, Circuit Paul Ricard (FRA) 4 & 5 May: WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) 16 & 17 June: 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA) 13 & 14 October: 6 Hours of F

Perrinn appear to have called a halt to their LMP1 programme, favouring a Garage 56 entry in 2019 with a full electric car with autonomous mode. The Dacia branded LMP1 project looks to have been shelved as Perrinn, who had sold 2 LMP1 chassis for 2018 to ART Racing Services move instead towards a full electric car with an autonomous mode. Plans are for the car to run in the 2019 24hrs Le Mans race under the Garage 56 entry for alternative technologies. From what Perrin

So the 85th edition of the Le Mans 24 hour race has been and gone! It was my 11th time at the race but my first time the other side of the fence. Whilst we are a growing website with some great news articles and images, even if I do say so myself, this does not guarantee your application to the ACO for media accreditation will be successful. However, after building a very good relationship with Clearwater Racing our application went in to the ACO and we waited…. Then, 18 da

The 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours was a crazy old race, and the shenanigans didn’t finish after the chequered flag either! At more than one stage throughout the 24 hours the possibility of an overall all LMP2 podium was looking like it might happen! Having spent over an hour in the pits during the 4th hour with a front axle drive issue, the #2 Porsche of New Zealander’s Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley, and Germany’s Timo Bernhard most definitely looked like it’s race

We have received news that the number 13 Vaillante Rebellion LMP2 has been disqualified after failing a post race inspection of the car. A hole was found to have been made in the bodywork to gain access to the starter motor on the car during the race. The hole had been made in a second rear section of bodywork which was fitted to the car during the race, which is against the regulations. This means the DC Jackie Chan racing team have claimed 2nd and 3rd overall in the ra

Clearwater Racing’s Weng Sun Mok will have the honour of starting today’s 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour. One of only two gentlemen (bronze) driver to take the start, Weng is feeling very confident after this morning’s warm up: “It was excellent, it gave me a lot of confidence, I didn’t drive this set up during quali because they made a few tweaks before the night session which I didn’t take part in but the car felt really really good and I had a good run. Tried to do

The 2017 Le Mans preview concludes with a look at the GT Am Class: Aston Martin Racing (#98) Aston Martin Vantage Top AM car on test day was the #98 of Lamy/dalla Lana/Lauda, a 3:58 250 showing a good pace around the Sarthe track. Coming off a win at Spa, will 2017 be the year that these three finally get the win they richly deserve? The preparation of the car is to the usual high Prodrive standard, the car itself reliable so it’s the three who will be at the wheel who will

During the upcoming build up to Le Mans, Mark Atkins has been taking us through the runners and riders continuing now onto the GTE PRO field. Corvette Racing (#64) Corvette C7 A surprising quickest GT car at the test was the Chevy Corvette, the IMSA squad making their annual trip across the Atlantic for Le Mans. This year, Audi’s Marcel Fässler returns to the team for the first time since God was a boy, I can’t recall him driving anything other than an Audi to be honest! I

In a word ' average ' is how Clearwater Racing's Matt Griffin described last nights qualifying session. The team spoke about who would start the car in relation to where they qualified. "W e spoke about different scenarios before qualifying, if we qualify in the top six I’m (Matt) going to start the race, if we qualify outside of the top 6 Weng is going to start the race… I think some sort of divine forces were in action that decided that Weng should start the race! " said

We sat down with Clearwater Racing’s Matt Griffin after Quali 1 to chat about the first 2 sessions of the week and his hopes for the final qualifying sessions, and of course the race! During practice there were struggles with over steer and a general lack of pace which had been carried through from test day, this may have been in part due to the engine: “ When we reviewed the data we saw the previous engine was quite high on mileage, when turbo engines get high on mileage

LMP2 – Formula ORECA Oh dear. If the ACO’s idea of the new cost-capped P2 formula was to balance the field and increase competitiveness then this has backfired massively. At the test day, the ORECA/Alpine chassis filled the first thirteen places, leaving the Dallara/Ligier/Riley contingent in a variety of moods from head-scratching to outright anger. As these cars are homologated up to 2020, then there is no way that any change can be made to even up the field. Therefore,

It’s June so it must be time for the annual pilgrimage to La Sarthe, the highpoint of the season for any endurance racing fan (apart from me who left it too late, again! Next year, though… Let’s take a look at the runners & riders who will be competing in the 85th Grand Prix d’Endurance: LMP1 – is 3 better than 2? The smallest category, with only 6 cars only one of which is not a hybrid. However, it’s from this class that the overall winner is likely to emerge, barring so

The week of Le Mans kicks off on Sunday 11th and Monday 12th of June with scrutineering and administrative checks or "Pesage" in the traditional location of the Place de la République in the town centre of Le Mans. All 60 cars and 180 drivers must attend to be able to race and this gives the fans and passers by a great opportunity to see them up close. Image, ACO So what goes on? There are 3 "posts" which are basically big white tents through which the cars pass through o

The festivities for the 24 Hours of Le Mans begin this Sunday with the traditional scrutineering ceremonies at the Place de la République in the town center of Le Mans. There's always a big crowd on hand, as it provides fans an opportunity to get up close to the cars and drivers in a relaxed setting. The weather looks good for scrutineering this year. Sunday will have warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, with highs in the upper 80s F and around 31 C. A cold front is exp

So with 8 hours of running completed we are starting to get an idea of how the teams may perform in 10 days time. Topping the timing sheets were the 3 Toyotas with Kamui Kobayashi with an 03:18.132, over a second quicker than last years pole time of the Porsche of Neel Yani. Next were the Toyotas of Davidson and Lapierre, the Porsche of Bernhard was next up in 4th with a 3:21.512. The LMP2 class was in short a revelation, drivers prior to the test had said how fast these

With the test day for the 85th Le Mans 24 hour race, the paddock has come alive with the teams setting home for the next 2 weeks, meeting old friends - making new ones. During today the teams have been working with the safety crews and allowing them to get to know their cars, how to extract drivers, lift them out of gravel and so on. There have also been the start of the technical checks for both drivers and cars. Join us tomorrow for the latest updates form the test v

So, first time at Le Mans? Want to know what not to miss? Well check out our handy guide. The “Grand prix d'endurance” as it is often referred to will be run for the 85th time over the 17th and 18th of June 2017. It is the oldest, active motor race and covers approximately the same distance as 18 Formula One races or 6 times the distance of the Indy 500 – some 3,300 miles in total. The distance covered is of course dependant on the conditions and if there are any off tra

Two chassis set for 2018 FIAWEC and Le Mans 24 Hours British motorsports engineering company PERRINN has announced that it has received the first order for a brace of its new LMP1 car to race the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship. With the design work already completed alongside preliminary digital and crash test simulations, the as yet unnamed car is expected to be revealed in late November before testing starts in December. With the programme already at such an adva